Los Angeles Rams Media Conference

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Los Angeles, California, USA

Sean McVay

Weekday Press Conference


Q. Just want to check on two guys, Bobby Brown and Robert Rochell.

SEAN McVAY: So with Rochell, if was kind of a freak little accident. He was going in to punch the ball. He's going to have wrist surgery on Monday. Same thing, Bobby Brown, he got his UCL on his thumb, he'll have a quick little fix and he'll be able to come back with Robert. We'll see what that looks like after the surgery.

Once they get in there we'll have a better idea of exactly what his timetable for return -- talking about Rochell.

Bobby, expect him to be back the week of surgery just based on being able to cast it and we'll see how he progresses accordingly.

Q. What have you seen from the last few days --

SEAN McVAY: I've seen good, steady play. What I liked, too, is there was a great play by Ramsey in the defense today and what I'm interested in as anything is seeing the response. He's so study, he's unaffected by it, comes back, made a lot of really good plays, but he's got that veteran feel and it's practice, too.

You know, he's trying things. I like the fact that he's using these opportunities as learning ops and really kind of challenging, testing some things out, getting familiar playing with the skill guys he's going to be playing with, Lindsay, so very pleased, a long way to go but I love working with Matthew.

Q. It was anticipated today being pads. What was behind that?

SEAN McVAY: That was a mix up. It was my fault. I kind of misunderstood some things. Fortunately we got it cleaned up probably before I got fined. We'll be able to put the pad on. We'll have tomorrow off and the following day we'll be in helmets again and we'll put the pads on whenever that is. We'll have one more practice without the pads and then we'll put the pads on. But tomorrow will be a day off for the guys.

Q. What's your impression of the pass rushers?

SEAN McVAY: I've been really pleased with that group. You know, Eric Henderson and Thad Bogardus, Chris Shula, they have done a great job, Marcus Dixon, as well. Really pleased the way the coaches have poured into them.

I'm going to be really interested to see once we can put the pads on. So much of what you can really evaluate those guys up front, you start to get some one-on-one D-Line, O-Line pass rush and many competitive situations and you can really see how they are able to fit and use those things accordingly.

But up to this point I've been pleased with that group. I think Sebastian Joseph-Day is a guy that's shown he can be an pull-purpose player. We all know what Aaron is capable of.

I think Justin Hollins is a guy that used all the things that he did really well last year and he's really continued to build and grow and excited about him, and oh bow is a guy that has a lot of ability as well.

Q. Seemed like the red zone early on got extremely competitive, and raised the bar. What did you like?

SEAN McVAY: I felt the same way. I think the goal is being able to push one another and when you get into those competitive situations, that's exactly what we want to be able to see. I thought there was some good plays by both sides. You know, it is really fun to have the fans out here, too. You realize what a great atmosphere and environment that creates, one of the many things that makes football so special and I think our players thrive off that. It was kind of in that end zone where there were a lot of fans.

So the guys had fun and there was a lot of good plays and a lot of good things that we can teach off of.

Q. Wondering if you can break that period down in a little bit more detail, just because after Jalen's pick, which was excellent, Matthew just seemed to sort of like start firing all these -- he had a side arm down the barrel and then he also had a no-look to Darell. I wonder if you could just break that down in detail?

SEAN McVAY: I think you just broke it down pretty good. Yeah, that was good. You broke it down. We're mixing the downs in there. It was kind of a predetermined scripted period, we got some first downs, second downs, handful of third downs, goal to go, four-point play type of situations and you know, Jalen makes a play that ends up going the other way. That's definitely a touchdown for the defense.

You pretty much just, explained all the plays pretty well. He ends up -- I love the way he was able November in the pocket. Until you go back and watch the film, what I've been really pleased with, too, is just the practice etiquette. Our defensive line understand if they come free, let's level past the quarterback so sometimes you can get some clarity on, all right, would that have been a real play.

But I like the way he was able to move and manipulate the pocket, exhaust progressions, found Cooper, you mentioned it where he found Darrell and so those are things that are exciting and that's one of the things that I think has been a staple of what he's done at such a high level throughout the course of his career.

Q. At one point you described that as rare, expletive.

SEAN McVAY: Oh, yeah.

Q. Is that along lines of what you're talking about?

SEAN McVAY: You said it. That's exactly right. It was special stuff and again, I thought this was a lot of special things from a lot of our players and that's what you want to see, these guys pushing one another, and I love that.

Q. Robert, getting the last word in, mentions it's great because he feels the defense will comeback with a chip on its shoulder. To see that competitiveness so early; is that a marker for you?

SEAN McVAY: It is, that's exactly what we want to see. It's finding that balance of pushing one another, making each other better and never letting it get past that. Our guys do a great job balancing that out.

I love this team and the way the coaches have helped established and set the tone and the players have really been the ones that have set the tone. I think our leadership, that veteran leadership, it's easy to say, hey, let's watch the way these guys are doing it, and the younger cats are falling in line and that's what the first four days have been reflective of.

Q. Cliff and Robert going into their fifth year together, how do you see that partnership develop over the years?

SEAN McVAY: It's been special, two of the most conscientious players I've been around particularly from the receiver room. These are guys that they don't want to just know what's going on from their position. They want to know what the other ten guys are doing, what's the responsibility that they are trying to -- that the defense is trying to get done. They want to know the intent of things.

I think they push each other. I think they have great skill sets. Both of them are great football players but they are different and they are able to play off one another and say, these are the things that Robert does really well and these are things Cooper does really well and share in their craft. They set the Tony and think Eric Yarber has been outstanding.

Q. Talk about setting a tone -- how do they help --

SEAN McVAY: I think it's been a big thing. I think what you're really seeing is DeSean is a great play and he's established himself. But Van Jefferson has really asserted himself as well. I think when he comes in as a rookie, he's able to see the way Cooper and Robert approach the craft and I think he's doing an excellent job.

I really look at three of the most conscientious receivers I've ever been around are Robert, Cooper and when Brandin Cooks was with us. That was such a special group. Then Brandin ends up moving on, doing his thing in Houston, Josh Reynolds did a great job and now you're starting to see Van really assert himself. I think he's really coming into his own. I think he's got an incredibly bright future and DeSean is a really established player. The.

Way we look, we have four starters and it's a good problem to make sure we figure out how to keep them fresh but also get them involved in getting them their touches.

DraftScripts by ASAP Sports ....

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
110969-2-1001 2021-08-01 02:08:00 GMT

ASAP sports

tech 129